Governor Kathy Hochul today announced ten appointments to the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division. This class is comprised of highly skilled appointees who come from diverse personal and professional backgrounds, underscoring Governor Hochul’s commitment to ensuring New York State’s judiciary accurately reflects the wide array of people who call New York home. In addition to selecting nine new appointees, Governor Hochul is filling the vacancy in the constitutional bench that was created when she appointed Justice Dianne Renwick to serve as Presiding Justice of the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department.
“I am proud to appoint each and every one of these ten outstanding judges and am confident they will serve New Yorkers with fairness and respect,” Governor Hochul said. “Bringing in decades of work experience and diverse perspectives, these appointees will continue to bring honor and integrity to New York State’s judiciary.”
The appointments include:
Anil Singh, First Department
Anil Singh currently serves on the Appellate Division and is being elevated to serve as Associate Justice to fill the vacancy in the constitutional bench that was created when Governor Hochul appointed Justice Renwick to serve as Presiding Justice. Justice Singh was elected as a Justice of the Supreme Court in the First Judicial District in 2013 and was appointed to the Commission on Judicial Conduct in May 2023 by Chief Judge Wilson. Prior to his election, he served as a judge for over a decade. He was elected to the Civil Court of the City of New York in 2002. As a Civil Court Judge, he presided over jury, non-jury and Small Claims cases, including tort matters; commercial disputes; consumer credit cases; real estate matters, including commercial landlord-tenant cases; subrogation matters; and insurance disputes. In 2015, Justice Singh was appointed to the Commercial Division of the New York State Supreme Court. Justice Singh was born in Gazipur, India in 1958. As a teenager, he immigrated to the United States in 1976. After earning a B.A. degree from Lawrence University in 1980, Justice Singh enrolled in Antioch School of Law in Washington, D.C., which awarded him a J.D. degree in 1986. He worked as principal court attorney to the Hon. Alice Schlesinger in both the Civil Court of the City of New York and the New York Supreme Court from 1987 through 2002.
Llinét Rosado, First Department
Llinét Rosado has been a Supreme Court Justice in the Twelfth Judicial District since 2019. Justice Rosado began her judicial career as a judge for the Civil Court of the City of New York in Bronx County in 2013 and was designated Acting Justice of the Bronx County Supreme Court in 2016. Prior to her election to the bench, she served as a public defender; an attorney for children; and a court attorney for three judges. Justice Rosado is a Commissioner of the Franklin H. Williams Judicial Commission, a member of the Gender Fairness Committee for the 12th Judicial District, the New York State Bench Book Committee, and the New York State Judicial Committee on Women in the Courts. She is a member of Advisory Board of the Thurgood Marshall Junior Mock Trial Competition and First Department Vice President of the National Association of Women Judges, NY Chapter.
Kelly O’Neill Levy, First Department
Kelly O’Neill Levy has served as a Justice on the Supreme Court of the State of New York in the First Judicial District since 2017. Prior to that Justice O’Neill Levy was elected to the Civil Court of the City of New York in New York County in 2010 where she was assigned to various courts over the years, including Family Court in Bronx County, New York County Supreme Court as an Administrative Judge of the Harlem Community Justice Center and Acting Justice of the New York Supreme Court until her election to Supreme Court. She had previously served as a principal law clerk to the Honorable Sherry Klein Heitler and the Honorable Rose Rubin. Justice O’Neill Levy served as President of the Brehon Law Society, an Irish-American Bar Association, and Vice President of the Network of Bar Leaders. She has also served on the Board of Directors of the Women’s Bar Association and the Board of Trustees of the Community Service Society of New York.
Lourdes M. Ventura, Second Department
Lourdes M. Ventura currently serves as an Associate Justice on the Appellate Term of the Supreme Court for the 2nd, 11th, and 13th Judicial Districts. She was elected Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York in the Eleventh Judicial District. Previously, Justice Ventura was elected Judge of the Civil Court of the City of New York in Queens County. Prior to Justice Ventura’s service on the bench, she was a partner at the law firm of Ahmuty, Demers & McManus which specializes in all aspects of civil litigation. She is a former Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Bureau of the New York State Attorney General’s Office where she prosecuted cases and investigated complaints involving discrimination in housing, education and other areas. Justice Ventura currently serves as co-chair the Equal Justice in the Courts Committee for the Civil Term of the Supreme Court, Queens County and a member of the New York Pattern Jury Instructions (Civil) Committee. Justice Ventura is currently serving as President of the Latino Judges Association and is a board member of the Supreme Court Judges Association of the City of New York as well as the Judges and Lawyers Breast Cancer Alert.
Carl Landicino, Second Department
Carl Landicino was elected Justice of the Supreme Court, in the Second Judicial District of New York in 2011. Justice Landicino attended the University of Rochester and St. John's University School of Law, and was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1991. Prior to his election, he was a He previously was a partner at Borchert, Genovesi, LaSpina & Landicino, P.C., where he practiced law as a transactional attorney and litigator. Landicino began his career as an attorney with the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Justice Landicino is an officer of the Supreme Court Justices Association of the City of New York, past President of the Columbian Lawyers Association of Brooklyn and the Nathan Sobel American Inn of Court of Brooklyn.
Laurence Love, Second Department
Laurence L. Love was elected Justice of the Supreme Court in the Eleventh Judicial District in 2019. He currently serves as the New York citywide co-coordinator judge for Child Victims Act cases. Previously, he was elected to the Queens Civil court in 2012 and served as Acting Supreme Court Justice from 2016 to 2018. Prior to his election to the bench, Justice Love maintained his own law practice with a focus on personal injury law based in Queens and served as Legal Counsel to then Assemblywoman Audrey I. Pheffer, current Queens County Clerk and Commissioner of Jurors. Justice Love is a member of the board of the Brandeis Association.
Mark Powers, Third Department
Mark Powers was elected Supreme Court Justice in the Fourth Judicial District in 2016. Justice Powers is a graduate of the State University of New York at Albany; Western New England School of Law; and the Albany Law School, with an LLM, summa cum laude. Previously, he was elected Family Court Judge in 2001 in Schenectady County and has served as Acting Supreme Court Justice in the Integrated Domestic Violence Court in Schenectady and Essex Counties from 2007 to 2016. Prior to his election to the bench, Justice Powers maintained his own law practice and served as an adjunct professor at Western New England School of Law, teaching New York Practice. Justice Powers is an Advisory Member of the Office of Court Administration’s Family Court Advisory and Rules Committee and the Appellate Division, Third Department Office of Attorneys for Children Advisory Committee. He is also a member of the Capital District Black and Hispanic Bar Association.
L. Michael Mackey, Third Department
Michael Mackey was elected Supreme Court Justice in the Third Judicial District in 2016. He previously was a partner at Feeney, Centi and Mackey, where he litigated civil trials in various subject areas including personal injury, consumer protection, real estate, insurance, and civil rights. Justice Mackey also has dedicated his time to public service including as an Albany County Legislator and as Town Attorney for the Town of New Scotland. He began his legal career as a confidential law clerk to Albany County Court Judge John J. Clyne.
Henry Nowak, Fourth Department
Henry Nowak was elected to serve as a Justice of the Supreme Court in the Eighth Judicial District in 2010 where he has been assigned to the Commercial Division from 2016 through 2020 and the Medical Malpractice part since 2022. Previously, he was elected as a Judge for Buffalo’s City Court in 2003 where he was assigned to Buffalo Housing Court, which presided over all housing violations and evictions in the City of Buffalo. He was also previously a trial attorney at Connors & Vilardo, LLP and Lipsitz, Green, Fahringer, Roll, Salisbury, & Cambria, L.L.P. Justice Nowak taught a Community Engagement Legal Clinic in 2022 at SUNY-Buffalo Law School, and previously taught at the SUNY-Buffalo Honors College and the New York Judicial Institute. He is also a co-editor of The Bench Book for Trial Judges – New York.
Scott DelConte, Fourth Department
Scott DelConte was elected in 2018 to serve as a Justice of the Supreme Court in the Fifth Judicial District. Previously, DelConte was a member (partner) of Bond, Schoeneck, and King, PLLC, which he joined in 1999, and principal of the DelConte Law Firm in Oswego, where he handled complex litigation. In his civil practice, DelConte served as Chancellor and general counsel to the Upper New York Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. He is also a former President of the Oswego County Bar Association, and a Past Director of the Agricultural Society of Oswego County and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Oswego County. DelConte raises Hereford cattle with his wife and four children on their family farm.
The Judicial Screening Committees for each of the four Appellate Departments review the applications and conduct interviews of dozens of applicants. Only those applicants deemed “highly qualified” by the Committees were submitted to the Governor for her consideration. To be found “highly qualified,” candidates must display integrity, independence, leadership, intellect, legal ability, judgment, temperament, and experience.
The Governor’s Office will continue to review candidates that successfully advance through the screening process to fill vacancies in the Appellate Divisions of the Supreme Court.
Under the New York State Constitution and Judiciary Law, the Governor has the authority to appoint Justices to each Appellate Division from among those who have been elected as Justices of the Supreme Court. These appointments are not subject to Senate confirmation.